Thirukkural · அறத்துப்பால் · கூடா ஒழுக்கம்

Thirukkural 277

Chapter 28: கூடா ஒழுக்கம் (Imposture) · Virtue

Kural 277

புறங்குன்றி கண்டனைய ரேனும் அகங்குன்றி
முக்கிற் கரியார் உடைத்து.

Purangundri Kantanaiya Renum Akangundri
Mukkir Kariyaar Utaiththu

Outward, they shine as 'kunri' berry's scarlet bright; Inward, like tip of 'kunri' bead, as black as night

Meaning

(The world) contains persons whose outside appears (as fair) as the (red) berry of the Abrus, but whose inside is as black as the nose of that berry.

Plain English meaning from the 19th-century prose translation by W. H. Drew and John Lazarus. The verse above is G. U. Pope's translation (1886).

Other kurals in கூடா ஒழுக்கம்

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